Officials have uncovered more of a what they believe is a centuries-old church in St. Augustine, as well as a building that might have served as a home for friars.

Archaeologists and technicians have spent weeks digging trenches at the Mission Nombre de Dios mission grounds, uncovering some foundations of the building that is “probably the earliest stone building completed in all of St. Augustine,” said Gifford Waters, collections manager for historical archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Waters and archaeologist Kathy Deagan have guided the work at the site, and their crew found the site in 2011 after following historical records.

The recent excavation has uncovered a more elaborate framework and a larger structure than officials expected, said Deagan, who was at the site on Thursday morning.

“It’s much more complex than we thought ...” Deagan said.

The crew also found remains of a structure made with tabby. a material that includes shells. Items such as pottery and animal bones were found in the area.

Based on the site’s history, it could have been a place to house friars.

On Thursday, sections of the coquina and tabby structure were exposed at the mission grounds. The structure could go back under the dirt soon after the crew wraps up the excavation.

The Spanish governor of Florida ordered the church to be built in the 1670s, and it was built before the Castillo de San Marcos was finished.

In 2011, a crew found the site, a discovery that came after a tip from the archivist at the Diocese of St. Augustine and the Sisters of St. Joseph, according to a previous story. Sister Catherine Bitzer noticed records by historian Father Charles Spellman, who found the site in 1951 and recovered pottery, musket balls and other items. Bitzer contacted the Florida Museum.

The site is near the current Chapel of Nuestra Señora de La Leche y Buen Parto, which means Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery.

On Thursday, crew members worked to map the trenches, sort through finds and work on the foundation.

A woman laid out pieces of blue and white pottery, possibly a plate, that had been found near the tabby structure.

The excavations have uncovered more than half of the foundations of the church, according to a press release from the University of Florida. The find may be the first finished stone structure in colonial Spanish Florida. Interior rooms have also been discovered.

In 1677, the Florida governor commissioned the “La Leche” church in honor of the shrine, according to the release. British forces occupied the church in 1702 and burned the building, and excavation has given researchers ideas about how the church was rebuilt.

“We have discovered two distinct construction episodes indicating that the 1677 construction was of coquina stone, and it was rebuilt with tabby and coquina rubble from the original church,” Waters said in the release. “The excavation has revealed interior partition walls, indicating the presence of distinct rooms within the structure.”

The rooms could have been part of a friary.

Eric Johnson, director of the Mission Nombre de Dios, said the discovery surprised him. Seeing the structure emerge, which was “right under our feet,” was exciting, he said. “It’s unbelievable.”

Deagan said the excavation is in its final stages and the crew could be leaving next week. Officials have not decided whether they will leave the foundation exposed for some time so that more people can see the structure.

Waters said in the next couple of years, officials want to excavate the interior of the rooms.

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